MonSFFA’ s Executive MonSFFA CALENDAR OF EVENTS

President Cathy Palmer-Lister IMPORTANT NOTICE [email protected] MonSFFA is in the process of looking for a new meeting hall. Vice-President Check our website for latest developments. Keith Braithwaite [email protected] Upcoming meeting dates may change when we move Treasurer Sylvain St-Pierre MARCH 7 [email protected] THEME Preparing for Costume Con Appointed Positions

PR, Membership, editor of Impulse Demo by Dan Kenny: How to make a Klingon head piece Keith Braithwaite Show and Tell: Costumes by Mark and Lindsay [email protected] Workshop: Keith Braithwaite, making cool props from junk Web Master & Editor of WARP Cathy Palmer-Lister All meetings are cancelled until further notice. [email protected] Follow us on our website [email protected]

Keeper of the Lists APRIL 4 Josée Bellemare Our virtual meeting is posted here: http://www.monsffa.ca/?p=10111 On the Cover Coronavirus Song Parodies Long-time club member Joe Aspler's entry was Rainbow Campaign chosen as the winner of our online “Cartoon Caption Contest,” and his topical dialogue has Sci-Fi Trivia Challenge: There will be prizes! been inserted into the KGB cartoon's blank Download our super SF/F quiz! speech balloon, thus completing the piece. https://tinyurl.com/to2kh6s

Congratulations, Joe! Toy and Action Figure Photography Pandemic Reading/Viewing Recommendations Virtual Presentation by Sylvain St-Pierre http://www.monsffa.ca/?p=10226 Contact us Cartoon Caption Contest MonSFFA c/o Sylvain St-Pierre Next virtual meetings are scheduled for 4456 Boul. Ste-Rose May 9 & June 6 Laval, Québec, Canada H7R 1Y6 In theory, we have meetings scheduled for July 12 (BBQ), August 8, September 12,October 17 Click to find us on line! (But we don’t know where)

The book sale is scheduled for November 14 at the Espresso, The Holiday Feast is scheduled for the 5th of December.

Stay together though we’re apart and follow us on the Internet!

Facebook Facebook page Group Really Fine Print: WARP is published quarterly by the Montreal Science Fiction and http://www.monsffa.ca Fantasy Association (MonSFFA), a nonprofit organization of fans interested in sharing their love of science fiction and fantasy. The opinions expressed in WARP are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of MonSFFA or the editor. To reprint any article, please contact us first. The use of copyrighted material is generally discouraged; but sometimes unavoidable; our apologies to the copyright holders, no serious infringement is intended. This is an amateur production, and your tolerance is appreciated by your fans.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 2 FEATURE ARTICLES DEPARTMENTS

Starfleet Treachery / 5 You’ve Got Mail! / 3 World Con Trip Report, II / 7 Blast from the Past: WARP 20 /4 Me & My Kindle / 15 Convention & Events /

REVIEWS MonSFFANDOM

Reviews and recommended reading & viewing February to March / 18 whilein quarantine / 16 Dispatches from quarantine / 21 MonSFFun /7 & 26

Dear MonSFFen: Show, Collecticon in Hamilton, Nadeshicon in Quebec City, and Thanks to all of you for being small university gaming conventions in the Rochester area. I around so long, to keep getting all suspect this will get worse. these issues of Warp out. Who thought you’d ever see the number Montreal has closed down everything to at 106 on the front cover? Not me, I least July 2. I think it will go on longer than admit, so thank you for being there for that, even if we “flatten the curve.” It will be a the long haul. A letter of comment is slow getting back to normal, with the more the least I can do. essential businesses coming on line first. I have been seeing conventions like Ad Astra and other small cons In my letter, I mention a new pubnight, and it is in the and events struggle to find space to hold their events and downtown area, the first Wednesday of each month. I think we meetings. Toronto has ridiculous prices, but I imagine that will stick with our own First Monday event in the west end. These Montreal isn’t that far behind. Church halls, community centres, days, it is all we can afford. The Valentine’s Steampunk and even public space in a supermarket…there’s got to be a place, Victorian market was a bust, with few people responding to it. even the party room of an apartment building or condominium. I have attempted not to torment myself with Worldcon reports in places I can’t possibly get to, so I have seen just a few Dublin We have a few possible leads, but now with the reports, and they have been mixed. The New Zealand Worldcon pandemic, we can’t even go looking at these should be fun, especially for fans in NZ, Australia and South sites to check for suitability. Africa, but when the Worldcon returns to Washington in 2021, they may have record attendance. My letter…I did get a table in the Crafters’ Corner at Anime North! But now, to see if Ontario follows Quebec in restricting CoNZealand is going virtual with the tagline: gatherings of 250 people or more because of the COVID-19 to boldly go there and back again where no coronavirus. That’s what killed CostumeCon 38, which was world con has gone before! An interesting supposed to be on as I write, and if Ontario does the same, that experiment. I’m almost tempted to join to see could kill Ad Astra 2020 and Anime North 2020. So far, the what happens. I couldn’t afford to go coronavirus has been the cause of convention cancellations like physically. I think we can assume the Toronto Comicon, Oshawa Comicon, Newmarket Card & Comics conventions are all cancelled or postponed to

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 3 either late autumn or next year. The latest news Barbara Silverman offers the 49th & 50th chapters of a Trek is not at all encouraging. pastiche, one of several fan-written fictions in this issue. Sylvain St.-Pierre writes about space law (attractive topic for me), citing It is late, so off this will go. I need to send you my latest both Judge Dredd and The Day the Earth Stood Still, then shifts convention list, which has CANCELLED or POSTPONED on to a Worldcon report illustrated with beaucoup photographs. He many cons, but people need to know. There are some big finishes the zine with accounts of club activity, after Danny Sichel steampunk events coming up as well, so I should get that mulls the merits of the Hugo nominees of the past ten years or so. information to you, too. Good night, and see you at Ad Astra, I Thus the unique quality of a clubzine: lots of perspectives on lots hope. of SF stuff. Yours, Lloyd Penney Thanks so much, Guy, and I will pass the Guy Lillian had some nice words for WARP 106 in Zine Dump praise on to our writers and artists! 47: I hope MonSFFen will take the time to browse TZD, there are so many interesting fanzines This issue of the Montreal zine just made this TZD under the available now with the Internet. wire. One aspect I haven’t hailed enough in this fine clubzine – https://efanzines.com/ZineDump/index.htm that’s a genzine put out by a group – is its art: Keith Braithwaite’s Issue 47 is introduced with heartfelt tributes to Alien cover is unique, spooky and elegant. Cathy, a dear friend, Norm Metcalf, Mike Resnick and Steve Stiles. opens textual matters with a look at Warps past, specifically 1992.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: WARP 20, May 1992 Cathy Palmer-Lister

With this issue, the club tears to my eyes. Yolande is now in a residence for Alzheimer abandons the unwieldy patients. Sensors has the usual roundup of news, including one numbering system of using the interesting snippet, “Hollywood has found a new toy: the month of publication. WARP director’s cut.” Paramount was circulating promos for a new ST 20 is proudly announced on the spin off, Deep Space Nine. The GoHs for Con*Cept 1992 were club’s first ever colour cover! announced: Roger Zelasny and Gregory Benford. This stunning art is by Jean- Part II of Brian Ekkers’ fanfic Prankster is well written and Pierre Normand, a professional still worth reading today. Joe Aspler wrote about alternate illustrator based in Montreal histories, Baird Searles about revisiting classic SF through the who was also a member of reprints. Sylvain St-Pierre wrote a survival guide for fans MonSFFA at that time. attending a con for the first time. Lots of sound advice even for Interspersed through the pages old hands. Someone wrote a tribute to Isaac Asimov who had are exquisite pen and ink passed away at the age of 72 in April. drawings by Linda Michaels of Under the title Fandom, another anonymous member, possibly Niagra Falls, NY. Keith, wrote about the Star Trek Canada debacle. This was a fan From the High Chair, Keith introduced a jaw-dropping club that initially obtained official status from Paramount, but suggestion – having two rooms for club meetings! And we’re then everything went wrong. Merchandise promised to members currently having trouble finding one we can actually afford, sigh. failed to materialize, and the club was accused of unethical, A membership that included Jean Pierre and Baird Searls, and the possibly illegal activities. Other clubs, such as Montreal’s own president pondering the need for two rooms to meet the club Warp 9, run by Chris Chartier, accused Randy Ryborg of needs? Those were heady days, my friend! intimidation and extortion. Apparently at Creation in Montreal, We were busy beavers back then, too. As well as monthly club Ryborg tried to claim 50% of Warp 9’s income from newsletter meetings, MonSFFA was involved in planning Con*Cept, sales and memberships on the grounds that he was official, and TransWARP, answered the phones at the WCFE pledge drive, Warp 9 wasn’t. Quite a story, and at the time of WARP 20, still and volunteered at Creation Con in return for a free fan table. unresolved with angry fans feeling ripped off. Caveat emptor? Capucine Plourd was invited to be artist GoH at Canvention, to be Kevin Holden, Bryan Ekkers, and Szuszanne Bathory held in June in Kitchener, and Keith Braithwate was confirmed as contributed to Sci-Fi on Video. Dominique Durocher wrote a two- fan GoH at Maplecon. Thirty-three Klingons and MonSFFen page article on Japanese anime, Keith wrote a scathing review of showed up for a special presentation at the Dow Planetarium the Brent Spiner Creation Con, but Kevin Holden was impressed which was written by yours truly. My, but I was ambitious! with the K&L convention in Burlington. Bonjour! An article written by Yolande Rufiange in French You will find WARP 20 on our website: about how she rediscovered her love of SF and eventually became http://www.monsffa.ca/?page_id=437 a member of MonSFFA, and meeting me at Creation, brought

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 4 Starfleet Treachery Barbara Silverman

The story so far:. Captain Janeway is assigned to search for the Maquis leader, Chakotay. Immediately on entering the Badlands, Janeway’s vessel is detected by Chakotay’s ship. Negotiations are interrupted when both are hit by a massive displacement wave. Declaring a truce in the face of a greater enemy, the two captains consider their options, but then Janeway is transported to a laboratory. Inexplicably returned to their ships, the captains confer and realize they are each missing a crew member. Cavit is increasing belligerent toward Maquis, to the point of becoming a liability to Janeway. The captains transport over to the Array. There they meet with an old man who refuses to help them recover the missing crew. Back on the Enterprise, Janeway is informed that a nearby G-type star system has an M- class planet, and oddly, the Array is aiming pulses of energy straight at it. Janeway leaves Cavit out of the tactical consultation, further infuriating him. Tuvok tells her the missing crew must be dead, but Janeway will not give up. Evans is sent over to assist in repairs on the Starfleet vessel, but Chakotay warns him to be wary of Cavit. The away team assembled to explore the planet engages the Kazon, and meet Kes and Neelex, learning from them that the Array is the Caretaker who has sent Torres and Kim to the planet. The crew members are found in a clinic and taken to the Maquis ship to be treated by the EMH. Kes relates what she knows of her planet’s history. Janeway visits the Maquis ship when informed that Harry and B’Elanna are awake, but hey have no further information for her. The Caretaker dies, the away team is stuck on the Array. CHAPTER 51

aneway stared at the object. Rectangular in shape, roughly attention, Tom Paris happily replied. the same size as one of their ship’s main consoles, it had no Janeway smiled to herself. She had noticed how quickly the ex- Jdisplay panel, no visual controls. The entire surface was con, perhaps Starfleet officer, was responding to her orders. black except for one side that contained six strange, unidentifiable Moving closer to Chakotay, the captain tapped her comm badge. symbols, which were reddish-brown in colour. “Transporter room, lock onto my signal and the four around me.” Completely perplexed, Janeway motioned with her hand as she Seconds later they were back onboard The Explorer. turned to her security chief. “Tuvok, any idea of how this works?” Stepping down off the platform Janeway turned to her Talaxian Walking around to the side, Tuvok continued scanning with his guest. “Neelix, would you accompany us to the bridge, we need tricorder. “I believe this to be the main command centre. These more information on the Kazon and this section of space.” symbols are probably either letters or numbers in the Caretaker’s Nervously rubbing his hands together Neelix joined Kes beside language. However, at this moment I cannot tell you what they the transporter padd. “Certainly, Captain, I know a great deal mean.” about what goes on around here. I’ll be glad to share it with you.” The Vulcan studied the instrument in his Moving to the captain’s side, Chakotay heaved a small resigned hand. “It will require time to analyse the sigh. “Neelix, we might be in need of any star charts you have. system. Perhaps hours or days.” Perhaps, later on, we could see them.” Chakotay tried to keep the irritation and Neelix felt sorry for the two commanders. They, and their frustration out of his voice. “We might not crews, were so different from the Kazon and the majority of the have days. Will you be able to operate it?” inhabitants of the area. “Definitely.....of course, Commander. Tuvok turned to the Maquis leader. Anything, anything at all that I can do to help, just ask.” “I’m not sure, Commander. However, being Leaving the transporter room the five headed for the turbolift. able to operate it is one thing, generating enough power to send Walking along the corridor Janeway glanced over at Chakotay. the ships back is another. I have discovered that the Caretaker was “What is the condition of your ship? Will it survive the trip back a non-corporeal life form of sporocystian energy. It is my belief to the Alpha Quadrant?” that he was himself a source of the power used to run this Array The Maquis leader replied as they entered the lift. “Good and the displacement wave.” question. Certainly not another rough ride like the first one. With Beside her Janeway heard the Maquis leader utter a small, low certain precautions taken....I think so. At least this time we’ll be groan. prepared. What about your ship?” The captain herself fought down the growing sense of dismay. The captain just looked at Chakotay. The anxiety on her face “Tuvok, remain here. Continue your efforts to decipher this unit. answered his question. It is our only hope of a quick return to the Alpha Quadrant and Reaching the bridge, Kes and Neelix remained by the turbolift time is of the essence. The away team is to remain with you.” while Paris hurried to the conn, and Chakotay quickly went over The captain then focussed her attention on the six-member to the ops station, to fill Evans in on the latest of developments. Starfleet-Maquis team. “Be on the alert. The Caretaker appears to Janeway walked over to Cavit who was sitting in the command have died, however, at one time he had a companion.” section. “Any sign of the Kazon?” Tuvok raised an eyebrow. “A companion, a mate?” He looked up from the report that he had been Janeway turned back to the Vulcan. “Yes. According to the old reading. “So far the Kazon have not returned. man she is no longer here, however, we cannot be sure. Keep a We do have warp five speed, however, only for sharp watch, I don’t want any surprises. Chakotay and I, along five to ten seconds. Any longer the core with Kes and Neelix, will return to the ship.” becomes unstable. Since we still have damaged She fastened her gaze directly on Paris. systems, Carey is having trouble locating the “Tom, I want you to also return to the ship. source of the problem.” Run a level ten diagnostic on the conn, it The captain managed to suppress a frustrated sigh. If the Kazon must be in perfect working order.” arrived with a larger force....“Maintain a close watch on all scans, “Yes Captain!” Almost coming to notify me immediately should the Kazon return. The Caretaker

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 5 died while we were over there. Tuvok remained to examine the wasting it without thought. A long time ago, on my planet, many equipment in hope of using it to return home. Maintain emergency people did not care. They polluted and destroyed much of our beam-out status. Keep me appraised of the situation, I’ll be in my fresh water systems. Now it’s just the opposite. Fortunately we ready room.” came to our senses in time, realizing what a valuable resource we She walked over to the railing just above the conn. “Tom, once had.” you’re satisfied with conn operations go down to engineering, Chakotay walked over carrying a tray containing two glasses of lend them a hand with the warp core.” water and two coffees. After handing the water to Neelix and Kes, “Yes Ma’am!” Concentrating on the panel, Tom Paris replied he placed one of the cups on the desk, near the captain. Taking the without raising his head. second cup for himself, the Maquis leader put the tray down, off Walking over to Chakotay and Evans, the captain noticed the to the side. Maquis leader had a strange look on his face. Picking up her coffee Janeway leaned back Chakotay turned to face Janeway. “It appears we have a slight in her chair. She looked up at the Maquis problem with the crews.” leader. “If we return to the Alpha Quadrant “Oh!” She replied quietly. Something in Chakotay’s eyes told our truce will remain in effect until both crews her that whatever was wrong it would not be serious. are safe. That includes maintaining the tactical The Maquis leader faced the Starfleet captain. His face and tone link until another Maquis ship can assist you.” were grim as he informed her of the problem. “It would appear For a moment Chakotay stared at the that during the battle Harry Kim helped out on my ship. Evidently Starfleet captain, then moving a chair from the wall to the desk he he likes the way the ship handles.” sat down. Only with extreme effort did Janeway maintain a straight face. The Talaxian held up his glass. “There are some who would kill “Well, Commander, I don’t see any problem. My crew likes your for this. You people live in such luxury.” ship, your crew likes my coffee. We’ll just exchange ships. As The captain did not reply. Seated in the comfort of her ready Mr. Tuvok would say, that’s the logical answer.” room, a fresh cup of coffee in her hand, what could she say? She No way could Evans suppress a laugh. knew what Neelix had said was true. “Tell us about the Kazon.” Chakotay turned to him. “Don’t say another word!” After drinking some of the water Neelix held the glass in both Evans and Janeway laughed all the harder. hands. “Well....there are various factions, each headed by a Maje. However, down in the command area, first officer Cavit was not Jabin is the leader of the Kazon-Olga sect, which you ran into amused. Head bent, appearing to study the padd, his face and eyes down on the planet. The Kazon territory is huge and changes from revealed the dark, stormy passion building within.” day-to-day. Depending on which sect is where and which group Chakotay looked at Janeway. “Okay, I give up, you win.” won the day’s fighting, Each faction fights the other, stealing Janeway tilted her head to the side, her eyes dancing with what they can, grabbing the other’s territory for their own. They mischief. “Of course I win, I never play to lose. Come....we better are not the most friendly of people.” get back to the problem at hand.” Chakotay heaved a deep sigh. “That....we already know. Are Turning away she headed for her ready room, motioning for Kes they open to reason or negotiation?” and Neelix to join them. Chakotay, looking at Evans, started to Neelix shook his head. “Only if they have the advantage. Even say something, then changing his mind, he followed the captain. then....they cannot be trusted.” Once inside, Janeway sat down behind her desk while her two Not liking what she was hearing Janeway drummed her fingers guests sat in the chairs facing the captain. on the cup. “What about other planets and species around here. Is Chakotay remained standing, the concern on his face deepened they any type of central authority?” the lines of fatigue. “Seska reports there is still no progress on the The Talaxian replied sadly. “In this section sensor system. That will be a problem should we be able to return the Kazon rule. There are very few peaceful to the Alpha quadrant. If we land in the Badlands we’ll be at the planets, only those powerful enough to defend mercy of plasma storms. If we land outside the Badlands, well....” themselves against the Kazon and the The captain made no comment. She understood the ‘well’ Vidiians. I’m afraid the majority of the species Chakotay was referring to, meaning Starfleet or more importantly are best avoided or at least approached with the Cardassians. Instead she addressed Kes and Neelix. “Would caution.” you care for something to drink?” Chakotay exchanged an unhappy glance with Neelix sat perched on the edge of his chair. “Thank you, Janeway. “Who are these Vidiians?” Captain. Would it be possible for us to have a drink of water. It is After taking another long drink of water Neelix replied to the such a treat having so much on hand.” question. “They have the most advanced technology around here, Folding her hands in her lap, Kes settled back in her chair. and you must avoid they at all costs. They suffer from a disease “Down in the Ocampa compound I never thought about water. called the Phage, surviving by harvesting organs to replace their What life would be like without it. Living with the Kazon, I own.” learned how important it can be.” In total shock Janeway looked over at Chakotay. Running his As the captain started to stand up Chakotay held up his hand. hand through his hair, the look on the face of the Maquis leader “I’ll attend to this. Would you care for a cup of coffee?” said it all. Janeway looked up gratefully. “You’re a mind reader, thanks.” Janeway finally found her voice. “All right, what are you and She turned back to Neelix and Kes. “We take water for granted, Kes planning to do?”

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 6 Neelix gave a small shrug. “I guess take my ship, avoid Kazon Holding out his hand to his companion Neelix jumped to his and Viddian scouting parties. Try to reach a safe sector outside feet. “Come on, Kes, might as well enjoy ourselves while we their territory.” can.” Quickly the two exited the ready room. Chakotay did not like what he was hearing. “You say their After they left, Chakotay slumped in his seat. “We are in a territory is large, how long will it take until you are safe?” predicament.” Neelix thought for a moment. “I can’t be sure, months for sure, Janeway nodded. “I know! We can’t just leave them.” perhaps a year or more. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” The Maquis leader looked at the captain. “No, we can’t. Janeway had no doubt of that. “Neelix, for the time being why However, I wasn’t referring just to Neelix and Kes. We can’t don’t you and Kes remain on board. We will supply you with all leave the Array!” the food and water that your ship can carry. I would like to talk The captain answered with just two words. “I know!” things over with Commander Chakotay, see if we can come up with a safer solution for you and Kes.”

MonSFFun

Keith has been posting comics on our website. In case you missed them, we are re-printing some of them in WARP. I have a feeling there may be more on the way, ;-) so do keep checking into www.monsffa.ca . –editor

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 7 the Upper Lake and back, and it’s nice to know that we are still A report on in good enough shape to do that. Worldcon 77 Sylvain St-Pierre

PART 2

THE COUNTRYSIDE

ugust 20th, 2019.

A

With the Worldcon now officially over, we had enough time on our hands for a full day trip outside of Dublin. We came across a nice little itinerary that combined both historical and Fairies, leprechaun and trolls, Oh My! natural sites around the Wicklow Mountains, due south of the capital. The tour unfolded in the reverse of the usual order, but The tour company had recently added a sheep dogs demo that turned out to be a good thing because it gave us the best to the itinerary, it proved both entertaining and instructive. Did weather for the portion spent mostly outdoors. you know that each dog has its own set of whistled commands, so they know which one the shepherd is addressing?

Cute AND smart. The bus was comfy. Right-sided drive, of course.

On our way to the next stop, we went through areas that are In my opinion, the highlight was the visit of the surprisingly similar to our own Laurentian Mountains in look Glendalough Monastic Complex, parts of which are over a and feel, and at least some Irish immigrants to Quebec must thousand years old. The adjoining cemetery is delightfully have felt a pang of homesickness after they crossed over. creepy even in full daylight.

The medieval city of Kilkenny turned out to be well worth the trip. Not only was the town – which at one time was the capital of Ireland – very nice in itself, but it also sported a well- maintained genuine Castle, full of many beautiful art and treasures. Given the size of the thing, it was easy to understand how the former owners went bankrupt and eventually had to cede it to the State who, it must be said, has done a fantastic So many centuries in those stones! restauration job.

A walk in the nearby forest, by contrast, feels much like a At the guide’s recommendation, we were careful to avoid dream. The old moss-covered trees are eerily twisted and I engaging in any sport-related conversation with natives, as they could almost swear I caught sight of a fairy or two looking at us were somewhat grouchy after having lost an important hurley from behind a gnarled stump. Cathy and I went all the way to match to a neighbouring town.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 /8 dinner before going to bed early, being scheduled to leave at 6:30 the following morning.

Believe it or not, launderettes are an actual thing.

August 21st - ONWARDS TO NORTHERN IRELAND

We did not know it at the time of booking, but not taking the train as originally planned turned out to be a good decision. The tracks were undergoing repairs and we would have had to switch to a bus for part of the journey.

It is sadly well known that Ireland is divided between the A very nice medieval town with all the trimmings... independent Republic and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Crossing between the two was really a non- event, as the Brexit was still months away at the time and we would not have noticed the paint-splattered border sign if it had not been pointed out by our tour guide.

We had to suffer yet another unexpected change of plans: because of a leaking tyre, we started rather than ended the tour with a visit of the Belfast City Hall, which turned out to be a nice stately building with a number of interesting historical exhibits. It is fascinating to see the difference in outlook between how the separation from Great Britain was seen here and in Dublin.

Yes, they have a statue of Queen Victoria, too.

We then made a brief picture stop near the ruins of Dunluce Castle. This interesting structure, abandoned after the kitchen fell into the sea, served as inspiration for the Great Castle of Pike in the Game of Thrones series.

Including a full size castle. Only the monster-filled moat was missing.

The return to Dublin was just in time to pick up our clothes at the launderette where we had left them. We had one last local Dunluce Castle: definitely a fixer-upper.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 /9 It was rainy and blustery when we came to the Giant’s BELFAST Causeway but we could not pass visiting such a famous place. Because of the change in route, we were not able to disembark on the street right next to our hotel as expected and had to walk a bit.

The Belfast Coat of Arms.

A word of warning: never believe an Irish native when they tell you that something is “[insert number] minutes away”. You can safely multiply their estimate by three and still be short. Trust me, we tested this multiple times and theorize that there is a hint of truth in all those stories where characters come back from the fairy world years after they went in.

When we finally reached it, The Bullit Hotel, turned out to be a bit of a special place. Best described as “industrial chic”, the place was clean but not very conveniently laid out. The location, however, was superb and within easy reach of most The giant was not there, but I can’t blame him: the weather areas of interest. was terrible.

Our itinerary also included the crossing of the Garrick-a- Rede Rope Bridge, but horizontal rain made this attraction somewhat less than attractive. The few stalwart souls on the bus who tried it came back drenched to the bone.

Something of a mix. Not the worst place I’ve stayed at, but far from the best too. I still have some of my preservation instinct left, thank you very much! Quite a few mundane places in Belfast are worthy of a visit. Foremost amongst them is the Titanic Museum, which is very Fortunately, the rain stopped for our visit of The Dark vast and comprehensive. I very much liked the reconstruction Hedges, an exceptionally old and scenic double row of trees, of cabins from all three classes, and am so very glad that ocean also made famous by the Game of Thrones TV series. We had travel has greatly improved since those days. the good luck of being the only tour bus on site, which is apparently very rare.

The hauntingly beautiful Dark Hedges.

The final stretch of road through the Glens of Antrim proved quite picturesque, and it is really a shame that there was You need to set aside several hours to thoroughly enjoy this not more sun to admire the gently rolling landscape. museum.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 /10 In a berth a short distance away can be found the Nomadic, a lovingly restored former Titanic tender. The hologram-like projection of the bartender is a really nice touch.

The Nomadic is the last White Star ship still afloat. I had to swear not to tell what I saw inside the wardrobe.

For those who prefer military ships, the HMS Caroline is a There is some shopping of note to be done in Belfast. The meticulously preserved light destroyer with an excellent hi-tech city has its own branch of Forbidden Planet (lots of Game of audio tour that will keep you entertained for hours. Thrones stuff); but also the last brick-and-mortar HMV Store on the island (although their stock of vinyl records was severely depleted after Cathy left). There is a Disney Store for those who insist, but we just went by without stopping.

If you are into soccer, several shops are devoted to the merchandise of specific clubs. I was truly amazed at the array of things you can put a brand name on. Even the mundane stuff is of interest, featuring unfamiliar styles and trademarks.

Something for all tastes and all purses.

Should you be in the mood for whimsical dining, Granny The HMS Caroline. Not to be missed if you like historical Annie’s Kitchen is the place to go. Part of a chain, this warships. pub/restaurant offers a quite amusing décor and the food is excellent. But one can question the wisdom of putting strange Fans will especially appreciate that the tour stops at the objects upside-down on the ceiling in an establishment where quaint, but somewhat isolated, C.S. Lewis Square, which has Guinness flows so freely... several interesting Narnia-themed sculptures.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 /11 Weird, but fun.

Simply walking around, especially near the Lagan River, will provide you with numerous pleasant discoveries. Belfast is not very large and, provided you have a good map and do not trust the natives for direction, is a fun place to explore. So many beautiful things to eat, wear and play with!

The Game of Thrones franchise is one of the major employers in Northern Ireland, second only to the government, and their presence felt all over. A few years ago, they installed beautiful faux-stained glass windows in various parts of the city, and they are worth seeking out.

Try to see them all.

We also had the good fortune of being able to visit the roaming Game of Thrones Exhibit, a well-crafted exposition based on the TV show. This was the next to last weekend before Here and there in Belfast. they moved to Germany, so it was definitely good timing as far as we were concerned. If it rains on a weekend, you can spend a few hours roaming the stalls of the St. George’s Market, which has a very large We went very early in the morning and had practically the selection of handicraft and specialty food items to offer. Those whole place to ourselves. Do not miss it if it ever comes to a with a sweet tooth, especially, will love the numerous city near you, the costumes alone are fantastic and a wealth of traditional British treats available. information is provided for each.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 /12 Because of the relatively small acreage of the facilities, attendance was limited to 700 participants and booked solid on opening. Yet another example of the importance of preparing in advance.

Given its size, the Hilton Waterfront, augmented by an auditorium in the connected Congress Centre, proved quite adequate. As befits a proper British Fannish event, the Con Suite was in fact the well-stocked centrally-located bar.

Despite its small dimensions, the Traders’ Hall was very decently garnished. Most of the tables offered delightfully exotic local specialty items and handicraft, which was most appreciated by us foreigners.

They had a petting zoo. I got to stroke Fluffy’s snout.

TITANCON

Aside from taking advantage of the fact that we were already on the island, there was one major reason why we included Belfast in The Traders’ Hall: quality over quantity. our itinerary: the city was host to the Eurocon for 2019. As is often the case in non-North-American cons where the working language is English, many of the attendants were from This major regional the United States and Canada. I am happy to report that all were convention, which at their best behaviour. In fact, it was nice to glance at a fan and moves to a new country not be able to determine the country, or even continent, of origin every year, was at first glance. purposely held so that it would immediately There was no formal Masquerade, but several Hall follow the Worldcon. Costumes were to be seen over the duration.

In fact, the later ended a day later than usual and the former started a day earlier just so that fans would find it easier to attend both. A sobering example of Fannish cooperation.

The Hilton/Waterfront Congress Centre. Some of the more colourful fans from near and far.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 /13 The content of the con itself was very decent, with RETURNING HOME numerous entertaining panels and workshops. The Game of Thrones franchise held a considerable weight in the topics, but Finally, the dreaded day when we had to leave the Emerald was by no means the exclusive theme. Isle came to be. While it would have been possible to fly directly from Belfast, doing so would have been enormously more expensive, so we needed to return to Dublin. The coach took only a couple of hours, proved very comfortable and even had decent WiFi. We again did well to secure our tickets in advance, as it was full and the people hoping to buy passage at the door were left behind. A lot to see and do. The panels were of both the serious and the whimsical kind. Cathy made a leather purse for her gold coins The aerial portion of the trip was mercifully devoid of any during one of the workshops. delays or serious inconvenience and I was able to drop in my own bed in Laval just before Midnight. Tired, but happy. The Closing Ceremony was also the occasion for handing out various FUTURE WORLDCONS European-specific genre awards, and I must confess that I was not familiar at Preparing a Worldcon is a major undertaking, so site voting all with most of them. I am is done two years in advance. We already mentioned the nevertheless certain that they were all locations for 2020 and 2021 in the last issue, but that information is already obsolete. As you are no doubt aware, well-deserved and look forward to The Closing Ceremony. CoNZealand will now be a virtual convention because of the eventually get familiar with the works cited. Covid-19 pandemic. Talk about reality catching up with fiction! Following TitanCon’s tradition, the last day was devoted to a special outing of Game of Thrones-related locations for those interested. This year, they went to the Giant’s Causeway. We had not reserved for that in advance, as we knew that we would have already visited it on our way in. It turned out that they had much nicer weather than we did, but that day was far from lost for us as we took a very nice tour of the streets of Belfast, seeing many corners that we had missed previously. See you virtually there! The evening concluded with a GOT Feast where the food was abundant and excellent. Nobody died during the event, When I started writing Part One of this article, Chicago which was both a relief and a bit of disappointment. (Illinois) was also the only credible contestant for 2022; but since then, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) has jumped in and it looks very much like they are serious, if unlikely to win.

Two Thousand Twenty Three looks like an even more interesting race; New Orleans and Spokane have dropped out, but Memphis (Tennessee), Nice (France) and Chengdu (China) are still lined up. While the latter is without a doubt the most exotically enticing, the travel costs, current political situation with the host country and fear of Coronavirus will probably turn off many North Americans.

Personally I am routing for Nice, as there is plenty to see in Southern France and I have never been there. As a bonus, it hardly ever rains in this area in August.

A bit further down in the future, the city of Glasgow, Scotland, is currently running unopposed for 2024. Having been there once, I can attest that there is a lot to see and do in the area. Plus, I actually like haggis (really!).

The Closing Feast was very lavish. I wore my chainmail All of this is a bit too far away to tell if I will be able to undershirt and chose the non-poison option. attend any of those, but one can dream...

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 /14 Me and my Kindle

or ...

How I spent the lockdown building up a library of freebie eBooks Joe Aspler

Important note: Ownership of a Kindle, Kobo, or equivalent reader is not necessary for the enjoyment of your eBook collection. These can be read with free apps on your computer.

spent my career as a research scientist in the Canadian Steampunk, Mechanical Men and Otherworldly Endeavours. paper industry. More than that, my field of research was Another that I’ve wanted to read for a long time – also an Amazon Ithe science and engineering of printing. I spent many freebie – The Battle of Dorking, an 1871 novel about a German long days (and nights) in printing plants watching newspapers, invasion of Britain. Yet another that I read when I was at McGill magazines, books, comics, and other material being printed. and haven’t seen since: The reign of George VI, 1900-1925, a And yet ... I love my eBooks, and I love my Kindle. It never left future history novel published in 1763. my side during the quarantine/lockdown. And you can learn to Amazon also has bargain prices on eBooks that may love your eBooks too, at minimal cost. technically be in the public domain, but are still hard to find. I I bought my first eBook a few years ago. Simultaneously I picked up the complete works of Lord Dunsany for $4.99. If that downloaded free apps that let me read them on my computer. My eBook were printed on paper, it would be well over 2,000 pages initial eBooks were books that simply were not available on long. The Jorkens stories (out of print and insanely expensive in paper. Then, I needed a reference book for a consulting contract. their paper versions) alone were worth the price. These were the The paper version was five times the price of the eBook – so the forerunner of the tall tale/fantasy/horror/mystery story told in a eBook choice was easy. tavern/pub/bar/gentleman’s club, a sub-genre inhabited by many After the first few books, I found out just how inconvenient writers including Arthur C. Clarke, Spider Robinson, Isaac it is to read an entire book while staring at the computer screen. Asimov, Larry Niven, and others. And so – encouraged by my son – I invested in a Kindle reader. Another go-to: Amazon Megapacks for $0.99 to $1.99 each. How do you build an eBook library at low cost? Yes, you Some of this material is in the public domain, and some is not. have to pay for current titles. Yes, it seems like a lot .... which is Each volume is either a collection of stories and novels, or a why I have bought very few current titles. Yes, it seems unfair single author collection. Examples: the Henry Kuttner Megapack that the price of an eBook isn't much less than the price of a ($1.14), the E.E. “Doc” Smith Megapack ($1.14), the Robert paperback book. However you would be surprised at how little the Silverberg Megapack, the complete fiction of H.P. Lovecraft printing cost is as part of the total price of, say, an $11.95 ($0.99), and more. paperback. I found a reasonably priced ($1.30) Kindle copy of The Do not, repeat, do not, go to sites that offer current titles “for Sunless City, a 1905 science fiction novel by J.E. Preston free”. That’s not fair to living authors, and besides, you don’t Muddock, author of hundreds of dime novels. This is the classic know what else you may “download” from those sites. But don’t potboiler that introduced Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin, whose worry. There are plenty of sites where you can find more than nickname was used for the first city ever named after a science enough public domain, free eBooks to keep you happy for a very fiction character: the town of Flin Flon, Manitoba. I passed long time. through Flin Flon once. At least, I landed at the Flin Flon airport The first thing you need is a piece of freeware, Calibre, from on my way to the paper mill at The Pas, Manitoba https://calibre-ebook.com/ Amazon has freebies from current authors as well. Some are This lets you centralize your eBook collection. The software hooks – they’ll give you Book 1 of a series, in the hope of getting also lets you convert among different eBook and digital formats. you to buy the rest of the series. Other Amazon freebies are by If you use Amazon, it lets you download non-Amazon material authors you’ve never heard of. Having sampled a few of those (or onto your Kindle, since Kindle only synchronizes with Amazon looked at the lurid covers), I can understand why I’ve never heard purchases. of them. The first place to look is ... Amazon itself. Amazon has a The next stop is Gutenberg.org; the original public domain huge list of free Kindle books. Start with the Amazon Classics download site. They have tens of thousands of volumes which you line. Technically, you have to “buy” the books, but you pay $0.00. can download in various formats, including plain text, PDF, ePub, There is a wide range of public domain SF and fantasy classics and Mobi (Kindle). One problem with Gutenberg is that since it along with many other classics of world literature. Material I’ve is volunteer-run, the typography and layout of some of their downloaded for free include novels by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, freebies can leave a lot to be desired. My Gutenberg downloads Thomas Wolfe, Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle, and James include the works of Stanley G. Weinbaum (1902-1935), one of Joyce, plus a whole bunch of books on the history of science, to the most original SF writers of his time. Had he not died tragically name only a few. of cancer in his early 30s, he would have become one of the giants One freebie that I haven’t yet had a chance to read has a of our genre. fascinating title: Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of Some publishers offer free eBook downloads. Check out Tor

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 15 and Baen. Let me know if you find any others! https://ebookfriendly.com/download-free-kindle-books/ The Internet Archive is another source for thousands of I’ll conclude with a word of caution: What defines “public public domain eBooks and magazines, with further information domain”? The short answer is ... there is no short answer. on where to find eBooks that are not in the public domain. A Copyright law has always been a Byzantine field, and recent typical example is the complete run of Amazing Stories, at changes have not made it any simpler. So be warned that there are https://archive.org/details/amazingstoriesmagazine people who dispute the “public domain” label on some of the This site lists more freebie web sites, including Gutenberg sites. and Amazon. A couple of the links are dead:

REVIEWS : From the quarantine Zone

If This Goes On, Edited by Cat Rambo Reviewed by Sylvain St-Pierre

While browsing in the Worldcon 77 genuine ice cream at her wedding reception, because Traders’ Room in Dublin last summer, I can uncontaminated milk is nearly impossible to find and the vanilla across a quite unexpected book. I first plant is virtually extinct, among other problems. thought that it was a reprint of Robert Twelve Histories Scrawled in the Sky, by Aimee Ogden, Heinlein’s 1940 novella, but it turned out to expands on the concept of a certain President who keeps rewriting be even more interesting. facts. Official history is rewritten several times a day, and This 2019 compilation of 30 short stories citizens are expected to be fluent in the latest version, no matter is a delight, even taking into account the how much of a departure it is from earlier ones. rather grim theme linking them. What if all For it is painfully obvious that the trends which are expanded the negative trends that we are currently upon are those that started with the election of the 45th POTUS, labouring under should keep going and spiral out of control? even if he is mentioned by name in only one of the stories (The Things like pollution, the loss of net neutrality, nationalism, Dayveil Gambit, which has a future baloney hamburger named global warming and so on? after him). We could be heading for a world like the one described in So, a bit on the depressing side, yes, but cleverly done and Green Glass: A Love Story, by E. Lily Yu, where a very rich entertaining. As long as these are not actual predictions… woman has to go through incredible hurdles to be able to serve

Illustrating Batman : 80 years of Comics and Pop Culture Reviewed by Fernando Novo

The Society of Illustrators / editions (2006 & 2013) Batman Black & White sketch covers Museum of Illustration had an commissioned by Chip Kidd. exhibition on the illustrations and The third exhibition is the original artwork of Japanese collectables for the comic book Bat-Manga! The artwork by illustrator Jairo Kuwata brings a hero, Batman. The Museum of completely different outlook on the comic book hero. This is the Illustration exhibits (3 different first time that a a substantial portion of the original artwork has collections) are spread out over 4 been shown in North America. floors of the building. Over all I spent about 90 minutes going throughout the 4 different levels of the museum. The staff was helpful and happy Starting from the late 1930's to modern to help out. They do serve meals at the restaurant (Tues-Sat) times we witness the evolution of starting at 11:00am. The Entrance price was a reasonable $15US Batman. Original artworks and cartoons and a gift shop is available too on the ground floor. The museum are hanging off the walls displayed by is located at 128 East 63rd Street in New York City. They different time periods (or evolution regularly hold different expositions of illustrators art work periods) of the hero. We can see this throughout the year. Also they hold monthly meetings on different over the different decades, 30's, 40's, illustrating themes. 50's and of course the 60's evolution from the tv series. The more recent PS - Unfortunately the Batman exhibit ended October 12, decades are also covered in the 2019. But you can view Fern’s video here: exhibition. https://tinyurl.com/yau3wdt8 Then there is the Chip Kidd’s obsessive collection of And there are many pictures here: Batman material also on display. This includes the limited http://www.monsffa.ca/?p=9286

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 16 HUGO REVIEWS, 2020: Short Stories. Danny Sichel

Nothing this year that particularly thrilled me – but that can happen, depending on the demographics of the nominating population. However, unlike certain people, I accept that this can legitimately happen. Let’s see what there is anyway.

“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, by Shiv Ramdas. “A Catalog of Storms”, by Fran Wilde. This is not the first How much do you know about the Bengal Famine of 1943? It was time I’ve read a story by Fran Wilde and had trouble terrible, and although historians argue over how many different understanding what was happening. There’s a small coastal town factors contributed, the British regime definitely, and whose inhabitants are at war with the weather, and some of them intentionally, made things much, much worse. Millions of people are “weathermen”, who have the power to cancel the weather out died. Apa is an old Bengali grandma who is very angry, and who by yelling at it – describing and naming it – except the weather uses her tiny bit of magic to get horrible horrible revenge. Very, keeps inventing new weapons so the weathermen have to invent very rich imagery of what it's like to be a grandma and of how new names and descriptions. These are really really poetic. Tons horrible famine is – I could go on at length about the ways in and tons of metaphors. And also sometimes the weathermen can which famine is worse than just starvation. Ramdas does. fight off the weather by turning into weather themselves (the Justifiably so. But... ultimately, there's not much more than that. narrator’s great-aunt turned into lightning!!!), but once you do that Famine is terrible. Colonialism is terrible. Yes. Granted. Points you can’t ever really go back to your family. And… I dunno. that need to be made, lessons that need to be learned. Ramdas tells Family, loss, maturity, sacrifice, man-against-nature… lots of this story very skillfully and cleanly. Lots of craft, and easy to important literary themes, which I’m okay with, but they feel like follow. But there isn’t really very much. they’re smothering the narration.

“As the Last I May Know”, by SL Huang. There was once “Do Not Look Back, My Lion”, by Alix Harrow. Eefa is a a proposal – not made by anyone who had the power to implement healer in a barbarian horde; she is also beloved husband (because it – that the nuclear codes should be surgically implanted in the historically the word ‘husband’ was not gender-linked) to the heart of someone, a child perhaps, who would accompany the warrior Talaan, the Lion. She takes care of Talaan, heals her President of the United States everywhere. That way, if the injuries, mends her armor, and raises the children who Talaan President ever wanted to use the codes, he would first have to kill births. She also watches miserably as, time and again, Talaan goes a child. This might, under certain administrations, perhaps not be out to war at the behest of the Emperor, taking slaves and leaving as great a deterrent as one might think – but no matter, the corpses – sometimes of their opponents, but sometimes of premise here is that a small country, the only one in the world to Talaan’s own children who followed her into war and glorious have had “sere” bombs used on it, has adopted this policy to death. Talaan is pregnant again, and tells Eefa that this time it’ll restrain its own use of seres. Nyma is the 10-year-old girl who, in be different. It will. This time she won’t dedicate her baby to the keeping with the traditions of her Order, has the codes in her God of War. Really. She promises. An interesting take on the heart, and is the new President’s constant companion. And the “blood and thunder” subgenre, from the viewpoint of someone problem with being a head of government is that other nations will learn everything they can about you, and use that as the basis who’s basically a “camp follower”, but a depressing one. for their own decisions about dealing with you. Sad little story about war, and about dehumanizing the enemy, and about what “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the this can do to leaders. Strong characterization (which is, of course, Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, by Nibedita Sen. I like the point). Doesn’t lead where you think it might – but then, that clever stories. The ‘scholarly document’ technique is one I might be because of where Huang decided to stop. particularly enjoy, as it portrays a much larger world than would be found within a more standard narrative, even as it “Blood is Another Word for Hunger”, by Rivers Solomon. paradoxically omits otherwise-important information. This is a Sully is a slave in the American South who kills her owners in clever story, and subtle. It uses ‘scholarly document’, and uses it their sleep, and then discovers that this had supernatural well – possibly too well, though: the story of the (possibly) consequences… namely, she spontaneously becomes pregnant, parthenogenetic, (probably) shapeshifting, (definitely) comes to term nearly instantly, and gives birth to an adult. And cannibalistic Ratnabari, of how the British mostly massacred them this occurs every time she kills someone: a life for a life. It’s a and took the surviving children away to raise, and of how this nicely grotesque concept, especially as Sully’s “children” start to backfired horribly, is outlined in only the broadest strokes. There’s form a community of their own, but I’m not sure I like what too much cultural analysis and not enough historiography. That Solomon does with it. I’ve praised authors for rich and vivid (like with “As the Last I May Know”) I want to know more, is imagery before, but the details on which Solomon focuses make good; that I feel Sen didn’t tell us enough, is not. me a bit uncomfortable. And we don’t really see enough about what happens.

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 17 Plague Fiction Feed backfrom our March meeting

I love plague fiction...especially zombie plague but other wrote a bunch of short stories in the ’verse...but only two I plagues are good too, for nice after the apocalypse settings. liked...one took place in a young children’s school, and is about Comic books have plenty of plagues. Ignoring Marvel the best piece of horror I’ve ever read,(the day the dead came to zombies, they are typically just diseases that kill you... Legacy show and tell) and the other one took place at The San Diego virus for mutants... but there are two different super villains who ComicCon (the last stand of the California brown coats). That want to turn everyone into dinosaur men with a genetic second one happens just as the zombie plague hits... None of these engendered plague, Sauron in X-Men and Dr Stegron in stories have happy endings... But they all have survivors...though Spiderman. And the Lizard wants to turn everyone into lizard men not many in the short stories. like himself...there is one Spiderman videogame where all of New Paula Dufour York is infected with little venom symbionts. And a comic story where all of New York is infected with a plague that turns Regarding plagues in science fiction, Connie Willis’ Hugo and everyone into spider mutant things. Nebula winning novel “Doomsday Book” is a time travel story The zombie genre of post apocalyptic novels and videogames with plague at both ends. exploded in The late 2000/early 2010's. There are still really good This was the first of her novels about the “Oxford Historians”: ones from before then, but having lots come out means a lot of a group that researches history the old fashioned way – first hand. comparisons can be done and the good stuff can easily be Time travel is a thing in the mid-21st century, subject to not fully separated from the garbage. understood rules about not interfering with history. Biohazard/Resident Evil is the first zombie game series and all In this story, a major flu epidemic causes chaos in Oxford in the biohazards are based on viruses, parasites like leeches or tape the mid-21st century. One of their historians is supposed to be worms or fungi. My favourite video game is (prototype). It’s a sent to Medieval England, but an error lands her years off course, zombie virus game where you are the most powerful viral mutant to 1348: the middle of the Black Death. around with all kinds of awesome superpowers...before the twist Joe Aspler when it turns out...you are the virus... My favourite after the apocalypse Zombie book is probably Be sure to check in to Sylvain St-Pierre’s on line presentation Feed, the first book of the Newsflesh series... The other two in the on plage fiction on our website: http://www.monsffa.ca/?p=10226 trilogy are not that great but the first one.!!!! The same author

Movies to pass the time Josée Bellemare

In the past month a few sci-fi and fantasy movies have been on hook themselves up and socialize as much as they want. my mind. The Birds: The movie focuses on a series of sudden and Surrogates: In the near future, people live their lives free of pain, unexplained violent bird attacks on the people in a small town. danger and complications through robotic representations of I’m not saying we’re in danger but without people and vehicles to themselves, called “surrogates.” scare them off, I’m seeing a lot more wild animals. There is an I’m not saying everyone should have their own surrogate but they increase in squirrels, crows and I even saw a wild turkey in my would be very useful right now. backyard. It ran off before I could get a picture. Ready Player One: In 2045, people seek regular escape from life I also saw a crow (or close cousin) chase off a squirrel, defending through the virtual reality entertainment universe called OASIS its feeding ground. At least various critters won’t get hit trying to (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation). cross boulevards and highways. I’m sure that at times like these people would love to be able to

MonSFFAndom: February to April Keith Braithwaite February

The club held its well-attended February meeting on the 8th, or animals having the amazing capability of human speech; one is with Danny Sichel opening proceedings. By broadening our even a vampire! definition of what counts as science fiction by just a little, Danny The whimsical creatures of Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, began, much of what is not generally thought of as SF, we can meanwhile, inhabit Whoville, a city that exists on a spec of dust! label as science fiction! These Whos also appear at Christmas, annoying the green-furred, Sesame Street, for example, is not regarded as an SF show, mountain- dwelling Grinch with their noisy, festive cheer. Both despite its human characters interacting with the decidedly non- the Whos and the Grinch are something other than human, as are human Muppet characters. Several of these Muppets are monsters, the Once-ler and Lorax, characters in Seuss’ celebrated story

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 18 about the plight of the environment. In The Cat in the Hat, the to correspond with the development of rocket science and, titular anthropomorphic cat releases two beings – Thing One and ultimately, the space race and moon landing. Thing Two – to wreak playful havoc in the home of two human Rene explained his methodology, and noted certain gaps in children before employing advanced technology in the form of an publishing’s historical record that have hindered his research, and amazing machine to clean up the mess made! will require that he dig deeper, or perhaps engage in a little bit of And so, consider: a city of microscopic proportions, assorted educated guessing. bizarre, sentient creatures of varying types, a machine of It was interesting to see how events like World War II astounding robotic capabilities – this is all science fiction! impacted the genre publishing industry, as illuminated by René’s Even when speaking of live-action dramas like the numerous data – fewer books published during the first half of the 1940s, CSI crime-solving series on television, the forensic science presumably because many authors went to war. Also, the number employed to positively identify a murderer – and in record time, of female genre authors as compared to male is pretty close to at that! – is often so wildly exaggerated as to be, effectively, equal today, but the data showed that, even though women had science fiction when compared to real-world procedures and been present since the very beginning, the number of female technologies. These CSI shows, then, are science fiction, if writers in the field only began to rise noticeably in the late-1960s, interpreted from a certain point of view! perhaps in conjunction with feminism’s second wave. Science Few would consider The West Wing science fiction. But a fiction and fantasy had been a predominantly male-dominated story about the travails of a President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet might field until then. be viewed as taking place in an alternate universe, and therefore, The afternoon’s agenda was a busy one but club president as SF. Historically, we know that there was no President Bartlet, Cathy Palmer-Lister took the time, during the mid-meeting and so he and his administration must exist in an alternate reality! break, to update the gathered MonSFFen on the progress of our Danny approached his subject with a mischievous sense of search for a new meeting room. We also held our usual fund- humour but convincingly argued that science fiction, really, when raising raffle, awarding lucky winners a number of cool prizes. you think about it, can be found practically everywhere you look. Danny stepped forward again to close the meeting with a game René Walling followed with a look at the interesting trends in of BluF/SF, a bluffing game in which players, given the title of an genre publishing an examination of statistics can reveal. René is actual published fantasy or science fiction story, first try to score in the middle of a project collecting data on who was writing what points by bluffing their opponents with a false plot summary, then kind of “scientific romance,” “planetary romance,” “weird try to identify the genuine story synopsis, included among the menace,” and fantastic “hero pulp” tales over the decades, and phony outlines read aloud by Danny. We’ve played this game what themes emerged and were revisited dating back to the before; always fun! earliest days of what we now classify as science fiction and We thank Danny, René, and all others who contributed to the fantasy. planning and successful staging of this, our February meeting. For instance, the number of books about space flight, and trips to the moon and beyond, in the first half of the 20th century seems

March

With the coronavirus crisis developing evermore rapidly, the show everyone the result once it had set. club held likely its last meeting for a couple or more months on Colouring the prosthetic with make-up, matching to one’s own March 7, with costuming/cosplay the focus of proceedings. skin tone, and introducing a wig and hair extensions to complete Star Trek fan Dan Kenney got things started with a detailed and the piece were detailed, with Dan explaining each step of the informative overview on the crafting of Klingon forehead process. He was careful to describe what to do, and why, as well prosthetics using latex rubber. as, importantly, what not do so as to arrive at a satisfactory end With a number of examples on product. Of interest was an in-progress Klingon/Andorian hybrid design he had brought in, complete with antennae! As he spoke, Dan showcased the various products and tools he uses in crafting his headpieces, all available commercially at stores selling arts and crafts supplies. Dan also covered the creation of Klingon uniforms, essentially attaching fabric display, Dan showed how to first sculpt one’s design in modelling pieces and painted cardboard clay on a mannequin’s head, then brush on over that the liquid “armour” to thrift store-bought latex, one layer at a time, with the greater number of layers (25 to clothing. Lindsay Brown and 30) providing the best, most durable result. He demonstrated live Mark Burakoff followed with a the application of a layer of latex, later carefully peeling it off to show-and-tell showcasing some

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 19 of the award-winning costumes the moulded detail on plastic they have made and worn in sword or knife handles and competition over the years. b l a d e s , Notable was the way in which for instance, as well as paint on they mixed and matched store- blood, oil, or grease stains. Dry bought clothing with their own brushing and stippling techniques tailored pieces, added can add wear-and-tear accessories (some of these (simulated rust, nicks and hand-made, or modified from scratches, mud and dirt) to dollar-store toys, etc.) to arrive s u r f a c e s at impressive steampunk, while brightly coloured plastic cartoon, and superhero costumes. Having a (usually humourous) items can be painted to look like skit of some kind when competing in a masquerade was wood, metal, or stone. Keith had emphasized; presentation is an important element of any on hand a few examples to show, successful competitive costuming entry! Also, Josée Bellemare and demonstrated live a few of the painting techniques of which offered a similar showcase of some of her fanciful costumes and he spoke, while folk had a go at it on a few of the toys brought in custom-made T-shirts. for this purpose. Keith Braithwaite closed this busy meeting with his presentation of some of the painting techniques that can be used to quickly and inexpensively upgrade toy water guns and such into more realistic looking costuming accessories, or We thank Dan, Lindsay, Mark, Josée, and Keith for their most props for fan-film productions. informative presentations/ demonstrations, and give a nod, as Using a dark wash can bring out well, to all others who contributed to the planning and successful staging of this meeting.

Dan and Sylvain took many photos during the March meeting, look for them in the members only page of our website.

April DIY Virtual MonSFFA Meeting!

Our April club meeting this year was a first for MonSFFA in afternoon was presented, and folk were invited to scroll down that it unfolded entirely online! leisurely, exploring the entertaining, informative, and fun content In brief, we posted on the club’s Web site, and concurrently that had been prepared especially for them. We offered brief on our Facebook page, expressly prepared content on the date, and snippets like an outline of the “Rainbow Campaign,” along with at the hour that would have seen our usual meeting of that month our suggestion of maybe adding an SF/F flavour to one’s rainbow take place—April 4, 1:00PM. We described this experiment as poster, as well as a downloadable (PDF) trivia challenge, which “kind of a DIY, virtual club meeting.” we set up as a contest with points and prizes to be awarded. As the scheduled date of April’s MonSFFA meeting loomed, Throughout, for members’ listening pleasure and amusement, we we found ourselves under quarantine. The club had earlier issued notice to members that all of our usual gatherings and outings were cancelled until further notice, in accordance with the directives of public health authorities. As we could not meet as usual, the Executive enacted a plan to connect with MonSFFen virtually. We opened our online meeting with salutations, expressing hope that all of our members and friends were coping well under the COVID-19 quarantine conditions recently imposed. We strongly advised any club members designated “essential workers” to exercise all safety protocols in order to keep as shielded from infection as possible while out working in the coronavirus environment which had descended upon us all not only locally, That’s the spirit! Lindsay gets creative. but across the country, and indeed, the world! An agenda for the

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 20 included a number of COVID-19 parody songs culled from the afternoon’s principal presentation, an extensively researched, Internet. lavishly illustrated overview of “Pestilence in Print,” covering Keith Braithwaite gave a brief works well known and lesser so. After a brief introduction illustrated overview of the art of “Toy and detailing history’s plagues—Antonine Plague, Plague of Justinian, Action Figure Photography,” in which Black Death, Spanish Flu—which served as inspiration for the primarily sci-fi subjects are employed to fictional pandemics of genre literature, Sylvain encapsulated the create dramatic or amusing little photographic “SF&F Plagues and Diseases” of the past 200 or so years. From dioramas. So many sci-fi fans count among Frankenstein author Mary Shelley’s The Last Man (1826), Jack their treasures superhero action figures, sci-fi London’s The Scarlet Plague (1912), Richard Matheson’s I Am toys, or other such tabletop miniatures that Legend (1954), and Andre Norton’s Plague Ship (1956) to Quebec Keith pitched this relatively new art form as writer Daniel Sernine’s Boulevard des Étoiles series (1991), the something people might want to try as a Batman story arc Contagion (1996), Max Brooks’ World War Z creative outlet, or simply a distraction while in quarantine. He (2006), and David Walton’s The Genius Plague (2017), Sylvain explained the basics of the hobby; one can get started with as little encapsulated over 50 works spanning the 19th-, 20th-, and 21st (to as a few toys and a smartphone! date) centuries. Keith also contributed a list of “Pandemic Reading/Viewing This DIY Virtual Club Meeting closed with a final Recommendations,” expanding on the few suggestions offered coronavirus song parody, but not before a “Cartoon Caption recently in the special “COVID-19 Edition” of Impulse. Among Contest” invited MonSFFen to supply the humourous caption to them, the films Outbreak (1995) one of Keith’s current series of Star Trek coronavirus-themed and Contagion (2011), books cartoons. These KGB-signed cartoons have been running for a few The White Plague (1982) and weeks, now, posted routinely on the club’s site. Long-time The Death of Grass (1956), a MonSFFAn Joe Aspler was subsequently declared the winner of string of tales about virus- this contest; congratulations, Joe! triggered zombie apocalypses If you missed all the fun, you can visit www.MonSFFA.ca and like 28 Days Later (2002), The call up the April-4 posts; it’s all there for your enjoyment! Walking Dead (2003-2019), and We thank Keith Braithwaite and Sylvain St-Pierre for putting World War Z (2006), and the together this online MonSFFA meeting. As the COVID-19 crisis classic Star Trek episode “Miri” seems likely to continue for a while yet, this will (1966). not be our last such meeting. Along these same lines, Sylvain St-Pierre put up the

Status Report from Paula Dufour:

Third full week in self quarantine... Catching up on my PlayStation two RPGs...catching some Pokemon, playing dragon city. House is cleaner than its ever been...reading through books...a lot of books...no desire to watch tv or movies...was looking so forward to seeing Blood Quantum... A very timely viral zombie apocalypse film festival movie that was coming out this month sometime... Wondering if that 3 day deluxe pass to Comicon is going to be usable...

Status Report from the Aspler Household: John and Victoria are holed up in their apartment in Ottawa. They both have jobs where they can work from home. so they’re Joe here. We’re peaceably holed up at home. set. We’re having a video dinner tonight. Annette has to be careful, since she is in a high risk category Otherwise, I’m catching up on reading and TV shows. One due to recent surgery. That makes me the Designated Shopper. I hour of TV = nightly exercise bicycle time. have a shopping routine: put on a mask, go into the store, wash or I’ve had Kindle on my computer for a few years now. I found sanitize hands - depending on what the store has available. Get out reading books on the computer to be a pain, so I recently ASAP. purchased a Kindle reader. I highly recommend Kindle. You don’t Sarah is near the end of her first year in Art History at have to spend anything. The Kindle reader is FREE to download Concordia. They have made arrangements for the students to on your computer. Major publishers have regular freebies, and you finish the year from home. She is also doing art at home. can find a huge amount of public domain material for FREE! on We go on walks (depending on the weather), and call out to the Gutenberg.org site and even on Amazon itself. One Kindle the neighbours from a safe distance. purchase was $4.99 CDN well spent: the complete works of Lord

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 21 Dunsany. Well, not 100% complete. That would be next to will take. impossible for a writer as prolific as him. Still a huge amount of Most of the DC metropolitan area is self isolating, but major material for next to nothing. businesses are working as usual. Traffic is delightful! Most small businesses and restaurants are closed, as are barber shops. Ethnic Further updated dispatch from quarantine: groceries are well stocked – supermarkets, less so. Liquor stores are open and well stocked. We had our first virtual Zoom Seder. The attendees were Local TV news is mostly ignoring the misinformational us at home, John and Victoria in Ottawa, and Peter and Michele Presidential news conferences. The news conferences held by in Sydney. Gov. Cuomo (NY) are shown in entirety – he tells the truth. The Of course, with the time zone difference, the Australian federal government has done absolutely nothing meaningful to participants were having an Aussie Passover breakfast: Matzah help Virginia and Maryland. with Vegemite. So far I’ve been able to avoid crowded places. Just about everyone is observing the 2 metre rule. Status Report form Lindsay Brown: I hope to drive back to Atlanta on Wednesday. The situation in the Atlanta metro area is worse than the DC area, and I’m Something I have always strived to do is to keep my personal concerned. I’m 75 and high risk. Tulsa is better, and since life separate from my work life. Unfortunately, that is no longer Carol’s mother is 91, the two of them are sheltering in place. the case as I have no choice to work from home. It takes some I think it’s likely that the US & Canada are going to have an getting used to. economic depression, There’s not enough liquid capital to finance However, I am happy to say I have two assistants now: the restart of closed businesses. And our central banks are Ripley and Parker. printing money....our tax bases can’t support a quick recovery. As you can see, Ripley is a real help with my ‘puter issues and Parker tends sneak up on Status Report from Dan(Kvar) Kenny: me, which lends itself to quality time together . Hi..just staying indoors Social distancing has its with cats..doing lots Of perks and perils. reading...writing...working on Perks? No more prosthetics..Stay safe..take care unexpected visits from people all.. I really don’t want to see… early on a Sunday morning… whilst I still sleep. Neighbourhood Watch? Perils? Neighbourhood Status Report from Agata Antonow: Watch just got creepy. Crafts? More like Cleaning. A whopping I am not an “essential” worker but since Adam and I have been working remotely for a few years now, things (for now) are pretty similar to what they were. If anything, right now there is a greater need for pieces about COVID-19 and more virtual educational material. I am taking a writing class, but it has switched to virtual meetings. We are keeping in touch with friends and family via Zoom, email, and phone calls. So far so good – we hope everyone at MonSFFA is also doing well.

Status Report from Barbara Silverman:

Ripley and Parker I’m extremely fortunate, and I thank the spirits of the universe big Spring cleaning. Closets for this. As an author, I have been working from home for the last that are jammed with nonsense, Basement Boxes that haven’t couple of decades. The only thing, at the moment I can not run been opened in 20 years. Yup – Nova’s (used articles store) down to the libraries for research, however, I have built up a nice inventory is about to explode! home library over the past couple of years. Well… back to work – ish. With precautions I do shopping when needed, and wash my hands as soon as I return. Whenever the weather is nice I go for a Status Report from William (Pete) Pettit: long walk and two or three times a week I hop the metro to Angrignon, visiting with the ducks and geese. I travel mid- I’m in Alexandria Virginia, about 12km from Washington, morning so there are few people around, walking to and from the DC. I’m finishing up clearing out my wife’s apartment. Carol’s metro to avoid buses. As soon as I return home I wash my hands. moved to Tulsa Oklahoma – I’ll join her there once we get our With all this extra walking I’m losing weight. house in Atlanta cleared out and sold. Who knows how long that The peace and quite actually suits me and I’m enjoying not

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 22 having to run to this and that. I’m one of the lucky few that so far, money in. (Dom works for Bombardier – editor) knock wood, I am not experiencing any problems. I have so much I may actually be eating better now than usual. As I’m not to do at home, especially as Concordia’s end of term exam is next losing 2+ hours commuting, I have more time, am not as week. The University put the lectures on Zoom, so there again, I exhausted or frustrated, so I actually do a bit of cooking. It’s not did not miss anything. So, as I said, I’m extremely fortunate. all freezer-microwave-plate these days. Even my snacks are better. Here are a couple of things I saw in the last week. Status Report from Danny Sichel: How does Henry Cavill (Superman) spend his time during this lockdown ? (sounds like he’s in England) Danny reports that he is doing okay. He has not yet applied for the government grant, but will soon. Val’s April trip to He’s painting Warhammer miniatures ! Montreal was cancelled, and her refund is being processed https://nerdist.com/article/henry-cavill-painting-warhammer-40k-miniatures/ slowwwwwly. Her company’s been declared essential because And someone came up with the best mask to wear when they print, among other things, packaging for medical goods, so going for groceries. I want one ! she’s still got work. https://nerdist.com/article/homemade-alien-facehugger-mask/ Status Report from Lynda Pelley: Has there been any news from Wayne ? Take care ! Status Report from Wayne Glover: I consider myself fortunate to be working for a company that was on the list of essential services. The digital cameras and sensors that we manufacture are used by some of our customers to I phoned Wayne. He reports that he and his mom are doing do food inspection, and make medical systems. One customer OK. Mrs Glover has not been well for a long time; Wayne is a full works in the field of gene-splicing and their products are being time care giver. They have moved into an apartment. Wayne says the only thing he misses is the pool. used to work on the cure for COVID-19. The production staff who must perform hands-on activities to He is working on a model of the Constitution, and he will be sending pictures for the display table of our virtual meeting May build the products are going into the workplace/production floor. th The ones working in the clean rooms are well protected as they 9 . At 1/96 scale, it’s going to be big! must wear the full bunny suit. The rest of us – designers, Status Report from Fernando (the Fernster)Novo engineers, etc. are working from home. I am working from home : on my small travel laptop at my dining room table. So far, so good. We were all supposed to return to the office on April 6th, So having been a loner for several years the imposed but I expect the working from home will be longer than that. quarantine measure has not been too hard on me so far. Yes, I do I am only going out for groceries, and I can get most miss going to visit friends and family and the occasional meal at everything I need, except toilet paper. The shelves have been a restaurant. So what have I been doing with the extra time on my completely empty for the last 2 weeks and my supply is running hands? First, I have been catching up on much needed sleep. low. I am disgusted with the hoarders! However, I do this by going to bed earlier in the evening. I’m by Since all of my activities are cancelled – conventions and nature an early morning person so I tend to get up around 3-4am model competitions – I am saving the cost of attending such most days. events, and making good progress on the spring cleaning on the This was convenient in early March since this allowed me to weekends. view the Grand Sumo March Tournament in Japan. This is a sport Here is an article about Isaac Newton having to self-isolate I started following since I retired in 2014. It is amazing to see how during the Bubonic plague and discovering the science of gravity these huge men can move so fast and with power. The tournament during that time. this year was a first since the stands were empty of spectators due to the virus. This lasted for 15 days. https://historyhustle.com/isaac-newton-worked-from-home-plague/ Stay safe and well, everyone! I have also been exploring the musical groups from Japan and the Far East. There is a Status Report from Dom Durocher: phenomenal number of great rock and roll Yesterday I went to the office for the last time in who knows groups coming out of how long. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll get as much of that Japan…Just to name a cleaning done as I originally thought. About an hour before I left, few of my favourites; the director of engineering called me and asked that I keep Band-Maid, Silent supporting production until the 27th. No unemployment for me! Siren, The Peggies, This was my first day working from home. I’m still finding Kecry Talkie, Passcode, settings in the software that I need to fix, but so far so good. Parfume, BiSH, Lucie Too, Pokadot Stingray, Fern says: These ladies are from America and Update: I’m still working, so not getting anywhere near the rest are called “Doll Skin” I saw them just before Mutant Monster, I was hoping or getting this place cleaned up. I’m very busy the lockdown happened. Doll$Box, FEMM, preparing the engineering so that, once production resumes next Lovebites, Mary’s month, we can get aircraft delivered quickly to customers and get Blood, Scandal, SecondWall, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra,

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 23 Pizzicato Five, Brats, Babysitter, Ningen Isu, Fern Planet, ReaL, Wagakki Band. Personally, I highly recommend Band-Maid, Status Report from Sylvain St-Pierre Scandal, The Peggies, Kecry Talkie, Silent Siren, Perfume, Wagakki Band. Each have their own style but are top notch musically. You can check all of these bands on my playlists in my YouTube account (search Fernando Novo) including my video recordings of Band-Maid, and The Beaches concerts that I attended. More time available for online gaming too..mainly World of Warcraft, and Wurm Unlimited. If you’re interested in playing World of Warcraft for free we have access to a private server running the game. Contact me if you’re interested : < [email protected]>. Ongoing activity: -Trying to catch up on my books both physical and ebooks. - D&D campaign: we are trying to form a group to play online. - Home chores (dull stuff, but it has to be done) - Putting together a couple of presentations for MonSFFA - Binge watching TV series online: The Mentalist, Battlestar Galactica (both series), Orphan Black, The Expanse, Ash vs Evil Dead, Defiance, and Dark Matter, just to name a few. - Putting together a photo album of all the T-Shirts that I have…. Well that’s it for me…from the Quarantine zone, stay safe…

Status Report from Josée Bellemare

First, during the past month I have been decorating Easter eggs. I”m up to nine and counting. I will send pictures later. I have also been watching a lot more TV since my cable company has descrambled about a dozen channels, including HGTV, but I am getting tired of white walls and black and white kitchens everywhere. Second, the tv show you’ve mentioned was called “Survivors”. I thought of it too, especially since the deadly virus in the series started in China. Hoping to see you soon, take care of yourself.

Update: During my isolation I decorated a dozen Easter eggs. The first one was a dragon egg. Since the thumbtacks I found were gold I didn’t want to completely cover the egg so I lightly dry brushed it with red paint and gold glitter. I finished it with a coat of varnish. Then I did a set of eggs that are shaped like cut crystal and come in the colours of the rainbow. So red, blue, yellow and green were used for the Hogwarts house colours with sequins, the purple was decorated in usual Easter colours and for the orange one I used autumn colors. The rest I decorated with sticker gems from Magi-Prix. I painted them, then applied the gems in various designs. The final one I also used fake flowers. Done with eggs, I have moved on to painting t-shirts. Pictures of the eggs are on our website: http://www.monsffa.ca/?p=10266

WARP 107 / SPRING 2020 / 24

Mars Attacks! Mary Poppins Men In Black Planet of the Apes Quintet Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow h no! You were watching your sister’s kids during Star Wars: A New Hope the Pandemic, and the little hellions found your Terminator collection of custom SF&F movie puzzles! This Island Earth They are all on the same pattern, so it was easy for O The Time Machine them to take a single piece from each puzzle and construct this bizarre mish-mash. The Valley of Gwangi Can you put back each piece in its proper box? You have more Le Voyage dans la Lune boxes than there are pieces, so they must have left some of them War of the Worlds untouched. Westworld

World War Z 2001, A Space Odyssey

An American Werewolf in London The Andromeda Strain Avatar Beavra Beetlejuice The Black Scorpion Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Creation of the Humanoids The Day the Earth Stood Still Dunes Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe Forbidden Planet Galaxy Quest Ghostbusters Godzilla Gremlins Hellboy Hellraiser How to Train Your Dragon Independence Day Jason and the Argonauts Journey to the Center of the Earth Jurassic Park King Kong Logan’s Run

Test your knowledge of the inconsequential, obscure, inane minutiae of the sci-fi universe! Win points and prizes! Just print out this two-sided quiz sheet and write in your answers to these 19 questions. Bring your completed sheet with you to the next MonSFFA meeting (date to be determined; check the club’s Web site regularly), at which time we’ll have ready for you a final 20th question to wrap up the Write Your Name Here: contest! We’ll tally all the points and award prizes to our three top- ______scoring entrants! Non-club members are welcome to participate, too!

QUESTION 1 (2 points)

“Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable—that is why you are here. And now for the first time, we are bringing to you the full story of what happened on that fateful day!” This introduction opens which sci-fi movie, and is spoken by who? ANSWERS:______

QUESTION 2 (4 points)

The Hugo Awards are science fiction’s most prestigious award; who are they named for, which book won the very first Hugo Award for Best Novel, who wrote that novel, and in which year was the honour bestowed? ANSWERS:______

QUESTION 3 (1 point)

An unintentional programming glitch caused the so-called “Corrupted Blood” outbreak to sweep through the virtual world of what online massively multiplayer fantasy role-playing game in 2005? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 4 (1 point)

“The Man of Tomorrow” in Alan Moore’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” is who? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 5 (1 point)

Boxer, Binky, Clover, Mollie—which of these does not belong? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 6 (1 point)

In the Andrzej Sapkowski short stories and novels, the subsequent Projekt Red video-game trilogy, and now, the recently launched Netflix series The Witcher, what is the name of long-lived monster-hunter-for-hire Geralt of Rivia’s horse? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 7 (2 points)

Claiming that 1984’s The Terminator was “a rip-off” of an Outer Limits episode he had penned in the mid-1960s, this science fiction writer threatened litigation against Orion Pictures and received a sum of money, plus an acknowledgment in the credits of later prints of the film. Who is he, and what was the name of the Outer Limits episode upon which he claims Terminator was based? ANSWERS:______

QUESTION 8 (8 points)

By drawing a connecting line, match sword to wielder:

Atlantean Ice Orcrist Sunsword Graywand Sword Stormbringer Rhindon Sword of Athena

Fafhrd Conan the Thundarr Thorin Wonder Peter Eddard Elric of Barbarian the Barbarian Oakenshield Woman Pevensie Stark Melniboné

QUESTION 9 (2 points)

Star Trek’s original starship Enterprise has as its registry designation “NCC-1701”; what does “NCC” stand for, and what is the like-designation for doomed sister starship Constellation, featured in the classic episode “The Doomsday Machine”? ANSWERS:______

QUESTION 10 (3 points)

“Cyberpunk 2020,” a ’90s table-top role-playing game, is set in which dystopian future year, has as its default setting which fictional West-Coast American city, and was issued by which games publisher? ANSWERS:______

QUESTION 11 (3 points)

Who was the first woman to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel, for which novel, and in what year? ANSWERS:______

QUESTION 12 (16 points)

Listed here are eight sci-fi film characters. First, write in on the lines provided below each character’s name the title of the film in which said character is featured, then by drawing a connecting line, match character/film to the actor/actress who played the role in that movie:

Stella Star Colonel Dan Commander Cora Peterson Sinbad Dr. Clayton Renate Richter Nancy Archer McReady John J. Adams Forrester

______

Patrick Wayne Julia Dietze Allison Hayes Gene Barry Caroline Leslie Adam West Raquel Welch Munro Nielsen

QUESTION 13 (1 point)

Racially controversial comic book character Ebony White was a sidekick to which of the following? A) The Phantom, B) The Spirit, C) The Spectre, D) Black Panther ANSWER:______

QUESTION 14 (1 point)

What does the acronym S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 15 (1 point)

Who authored the stories collected under the “Tales of Known Space” banner? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 16 (1 point)

The Era of Hopeful Monsters, Maniacs in the Fourth Dimension, The Gospel from Outer Space, The Smart Bunny—what do the preceding titles have in common? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 17 (1 point)

The Neptune Factor (1973), Starship Invasions (1977), Scanners (1981), Firebird 2015 A.D. (1981), Sci-Fighters (1996), Manborg (2011), Code 8 (2019), and Rabid (2019)—what do these diverse sci-fi films spanning some five decades have in common as regards their production? ANSWER:______

QUESTION 18 (3 points)

Captain America was co-created by who, and first appeared in which comic book, the cover depicting Cap punching out which infamous villain? ANSWERS:______

QUESTION 19 (3 point)

The critically-acclaimed television series The Expanse is based upon a series of novels and stories by James S. A. Corey; what is the title of the first book in that series, and what are the names of the two co-authors, for whom James S. A. Corey is a pen name? ANSWERS:______